Two screenings I caught this week at the Toronto International Film Festival...

Come Out and Play -- In this near frame-by-frame remake of 1976 Spanish thriller Who Could Kill a Child?, the enigmatic Belarusian director known only as "Makinoz" takes on the story of an expectant American couple vacationing in Latin America. Will they survive the horrors they encounter on an island seemingly inhabited only by children? Trust me: The movie, plagued by a roundly unsympathetic cast and genre cliches that 35+ years hence are now insufferable, isn't worth the 90 minutes of your life it takes to find out.

Room 237 -- This two-hour documentary and feature-length debut by director Rodney Ascher explores various semiotic/subtextual analyses of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Some of the more reaching theories (e.g. that the horror classic is Kubrick's coded apology for crafting the faked Apollo 11 moon landing footage) render the movie as much the stuff of nutcase conspiracy theorists as multidisciplinary scholars. But even when you're rolling your eyes, you can't say the discussion isn't darned fun.

[Edited 9/16/12 5:34am]

jfrost said:

damosuzuki said:

Yes, I struggled with that myself - boo to netflix streaming for not have a subtitles option on this one. I was initially going to give it a lower rating or not rate it at all, because can you really say you unreservedly enjoyed a movie when you couldn't make out 20% of the dialogue? However, I'm pretty sure I grasped all the plot points and the movie made me lol quite a few times, so I'm pretty secure in my 4.5 grade.

[Edited 9/15/12 6:09am]

Struggled with perfectly good English...god help ye if you ever dig out Trainspotting!!

I'm pretty sure I haven't seen Trainspotting since it was released (16 years...yeesh). I can't recall having problems with it, but I'm sure I must have. UK accents are usually incomprehensible to me.

Red White and Blue -starts out as a slightly perverse but fairly typical indie drama, then swerves into 70's exploitation-revenge violence. 3/5

Sleeping Beauty - A promiscuous, cold, detached, skint student allows herself to be drugged and used for the kinks of impotent rich old men. Puzzling, but I thought it was worth watching - if nothing else, it can be added to the ranks of sex movies where the sex is completely unsexy.

damosuzuki said:

In Bruges: 4.5/5

Excellent film. I don't remember having a problem understanding the dialogue--which is what makes the film so good. But I have seen it multiple times and own the blu-ray disc.

this movie was produced in 1998. gave more the a few subtle issues surrounding the senior kennedy, father of (assinated) former president john f. kennedy. i found this vhs copy at my local recca stowe. ray liotta does a very good job portraying frank sinatra. never saw it when it was released. it was originally a made for television movie. [the reviews weren't that hot] i'd give it 4 s

[Edited 9/16/12 15:09pm]

[img:$uid]http://frankroche.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/robot-and-frank.jpg[/img:$uid]

It's funny, and well made. A-

Birds of America/ComedyDrama: Nonsense movie, cause it made me fall asleep. It's all about people going through depression, and I can't find anything funny about that. 1/5 also Matthew Perry sucked! DON'T WATCH THAT CRAP!!!

ufoclub said:

It's funny, and well made. A-

This looks interesting, but Liv Taylor sucks big time!

Bronson - 3.5/5

sexton said:

damosuzuki said:

In Bruges: 4.5/5

Excellent film. I don't remember having a problem understanding the dialogue--which is what makes the film so good. But I have seen it multiple times and own the blu-ray disc.

I actually bookmarked it on netflix after you said such positive things about it on the first page of this thread!

I'm hopeless with accents. I'm probably going to buy the blu-ray so I can fill in the dialogue gaps.

A Separation 4/5 I like these kind of movies. A very complex situation. From a different prespective.

The Draughtsman's Contract 3.5/5 Kind of a weird movie since it was so full of allegories. I had to watch it twice since I missed some of them the first time, and I still didn't get the point of the pineapple at the end. I think I get it now. I think Mr. Neville was an idiot.

Marrk said:

morningsong said:

well not about the uber violent part but still

Been to see it again today. Not seen a film twice at the cinema this millenium. That's as big a compliment as i can give it. Still bloody great and my Mrs loved it too. Forget the Stallone debacle, this is the real deal and Karl Urban IS Joe Dredd.

I'd go as far to say i enjoyed it far more than Dark Knight Rises. Seriously.

I have to admit Karl Urban is the reason for my interest. But I've been reading so many good reviews about the movie that I'm now as equally interested in the movie. And I must confess I did get a kick out of the Stallone version, but I understand the frustration of Dredd fans. Sounds like they will be pleased with this one.

The Cook, The Theif, His Wife & Her Lover 3.5/5 I liked the play style. I didn't get why her dress was red in the resturant and white in the restroom, that threw me off, Albert Spica is one cruel ass. The ending made me laugh, though it was gross. Now I ready for "The Fall".

morningsong said:

The Cook, The Theif, His Wife & Her Lover 3.5/5 I liked the play style. I didn't get why her dress was red in the resturant and white in the restroom, that threw me off, Albert Spica is one cruel ass. The ending made me laugh, though it was gross. Now I ready for "The Fall".

I've seen this three or four times. Enjoy it each time.

The Grey

Liam Neelson (sp?) and wolves.

2.5 out of 5. Not worth it.

The Dark Knight Rises (I might have been the last person on Earth to see this)

***

I sort of liked it more than Dark Knight as far as entertainment values go, but the world view Nolan's Batman films convey is ridiculously conservative (cops are heroes, people should be lied to if it serves the greater good, women are subservient, disfigured individuals are ruthless monsters, etc.). The last two films seem to be really just films about terrorism. The hero in this one could have been just about any other comic book hero without obvious superpowers. I found myself liking Bane as the main villain far more than I initially thought I would though (always thought Heath Ledger's performance in the previous one was overrated).

Had some nice scenes and sets. Too many damn explosions.

"Wild Horse, Wild Ride".

I give this documentary about a federal program where wild mustangs are given to horse trainers for 100 days to train and show in a competition five whinneys.

:whinney::whinney::whinney::whinney::whinney:

SUPRMAN said:

morningsong said:

The Cook, The Theif, His Wife & Her Lover 3.5/5 I liked the play style. I didn't get why her dress was red in the resturant and white in the restroom, that threw me off, Albert Spica is one cruel ass. The ending made me laugh, though it was gross. Now I ready for "The Fall".

I've seen this three or four times. Enjoy it each time.

Do you get the Adam and Eve vibe sometimes throughout this? I kept feeling that. I like the use of art in his films. Have you seen "The Fall"?

SUPRMAN said:

The Grey

Liam Neelson (sp?) and wolves.

2.5 out of 5. Not worth it.

Not worth it at all.

/5

Entertaining, but very predictable and the not at all as funny as you'd expect with Vince Vaughn & Kevin James working together.

For the most part, I was transfixed on how coked-out Winona Ryder looks in the film.

I think Drew Barrymore did a damn fine Little Edie Beale 4.5/5

PurpleJedi said:

The Dilemma

/5

Entertaining, but very predictable and the not at all as funny as you'd expect with Vince Vaughn & Kevin James working together.

For the most part, I was transfixed on how coked-out Winona Ryder looks in the film.

Yeah, this was one of those movies marketed as a comedy, but wasn't a comedy at all. It was really pretty sad.

The only interesting thing was trying to figure out what the tattooed dude did for a living that allowed him to afford all those expensive toys.

And when he took the bat to the Challenger?

I only gave this movie one whinney.

:whinney:

novabrkr said:

The Dark Knight Rises (I might have been the last person on Earth to see this)

***

I sort of liked it more than Dark Knight as far as entertainment values go, but the world view Nolan's Batman films convey is ridiculously conservative (cops are heroes, people should be lied to if it serves the greater good, women are subservient, disfigured individuals are ruthless monsters, etc.). The last two films seem to be really just films about terrorism. The hero in this one could have been just about any other comic book hero without obvious superpowers. I found myself liking Bane as the main villain far more than I initially thought I would though (always thought Heath Ledger's performance in the previous one was overrated).

Had some nice scenes and sets. Too many damn explosions.

I've not seen any Batman movie since the first "Batman" with Michael Keaton.

The funny thing is, I'd like to see them. But I just never get around to doing it.

SUPRMAN said:

morningsong said:

The Cook, The Theif, His Wife & Her Lover 3.5/5 I liked the play style. I didn't get why her dress was red in the resturant and white in the restroom, that threw me off, Albert Spica is one cruel ass. The ending made me laugh, though it was gross. Now I ready for "The Fall".

I've seen this three or four times. Enjoy it each time.

I remember liking this one a lot too. I'd give it at least a 4/5.

RodeoSchro said:

PurpleJedi said:

The Dilemma

/5

Entertaining, but very predictable and the not at all as funny as you'd expect with Vince Vaughn & Kevin James working together.

For the most part, I was transfixed on how coked-out Winona Ryder looks in the film.

Yeah, this was one of those movies marketed as a comedy, but wasn't a comedy at all. It was really pretty sad.

The only interesting thing was trying to figure out what the tattooed dude did for a living that allowed him to afford all those expensive toys.

And when he took the bat to the Challenger?

I only gave this movie one whinney.

:whinney:

I chuckled a couple of times. But you're right...the rest of the time it was depressing.

ZombieKitten said:

W. 3/5 although I thought it would be a comedy

I did think it looked like a comedy, but then, so did the whole of his presidency

sexton said:

SUPRMAN said:

I've seen this three or four times. Enjoy it each time.

I remember liking this one a lot too. I'd give it at least a 4/5.

It's gross. Well, parts of it are. How they didn't suffocate to death in that truck I'll never know.

NDRU said:

ZombieKitten said:

W. 3/5 although I thought it would be a comedy

I did think it looked like a comedy, but then, so did the whole of his presidency

it was very interesting watching this one straight after Fair Game